Sept 25, a fun carpooling ride from Brussels to Amsterdam with Castor and crew. Where I went to stay with a friend and old room mate from Dunedin, Jacque. I was happy to see her again. She owns her flat on NIEwezijds Voorburgwal. And we did a deal, I was to do cleaning in the afternoon in exchange for a room. As it just so happened, she was in between room mates, so I had my own room downstairs for a week, and greatly appreciated this.

Whilst in Amsterdam, I met up with Timon in the afternoon at his music school. I was very tired though. I had met him at the Angel Art Festival in Portugal, with a lot of other Dutch people. Such as Meta, and we went out dancing with one night, as it was her birthday. At the park on the way to meet Meta, I was a bit lost and asked for directions, and a women gave me a double on her bike! One day, went to on a mission to a HUGE mall, four miles out on the train, to get a new computer charger.

One day went to the markets with Jacque and her Portuguese room mate Andy. We ate herring because its some sort of tradition. We also went to a Portuguese restaurant one evening and they showed me briefly the red light district.

Whilst in the Dam, also met up with Maarten one morning. And later that day went to Malinda’s, near the sea. (two more festival friends met in Portugal). We rode bikes to the seaside. I caught the train out and back. Was cheeky though and only brought a one way ticket, and spent some time in the toilets on the back, so that I could dodge the ticket person! Really do have to make peace with being a cheap skate every now and then.

Jacque also one night took me to a Vipassana Meditation group that she sometimes attends at a private residence, as Jacque also practices Vipassana. Jacque leaves no stone unturned as a tour guide, she took me to a coffeeshop as she wanted me to try a hash cookies with her. With many different flavours and varieties on the menu. Whilst in Amsterdam its kind of the thing to do. I really liked the vibe of Amsterdam and could understand why she lived there.

On my last day in Amsterdam, I continued the path I had followed of Van Gogh and went to the Hermitage to see the works of Vincent Van Gogh exhibition. Beautiful.

Did a big mission out to the largest shopping complex I had ever seen, as I brought a new charger for my computer, and couldn’t find one locally with the right fitting.

Oct 2, I was travelling from Amsterdam to Leipzig. Leaving Jacques house with her in the morning, and we said our goodbyes at the train station, as she was on her way to work. Jacque was quite intrigued at my small luggage and handy packing, and insisted on photos being taken. It really was lovely to see Jacque again, to enliven the spirit.